January 25, 2021
The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies recently announced that it will be adding a new center that will focus on ecology. The Center for Ecology and the Environment will continue the work of Wisconsin Ecology, which has been operating as the campus home for ecology for more than 20 years. Formalizing this work under the new center will provide additional opportunities for the 23 different ecology related academic units on campus.
The transition from organization to official center is being led by outgoing Chair of Wisconsin Ecology, John Orrock, former Chair of Wisconsin Ecology, Jonathan Pauli, and current Chair of Wisconsin Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison associate professor of Entomology, Sean Schoville.
Schoville shared that the Center for Ecology and the Environment will provide a nexus for faculty and graduate students to share ideas and enhance scholarship. He also said that the new center will continue to promote the sense of community started by Wisconsin Ecology while opening new doors and opportunities for recruitment and outreach.
“Wisconsin Ecology has been an informal grassroots organization on the campus for more than 20 years that has been supported by numerous faculty, grad students, and staff members over that time. It has been a really strong community that annually holds a series of events including symposiums, graduate welcome events, undergraduate job fair events, and a whole range of less formal events. It provides that sense of community to a broad range of people across campus who identify as ecologists,” Schoville said. “Because this was an informal organization, the opportunity to become a Center has wonderful implications for the community. It not only stabilizes our finances and adds to our reputation, but it also gives us the ability to integrate with the Nelson Institute and some of the other centers there and join in the mission to increase ecological research and bring the best and brightest to UW-Madison.”
As Schoville is currently the Chair of Wisconsin Ecology, he will serve as the interim director of the new center until an election takes place where Schoville could be voted director. Until then, Schoville is working with the ecology community to determine next steps and goals for the center.
Like many departments and centers on campus, Schoville said that one of their goals in establishing the center is to increase inclusion and diversity.
“We’ve had deep conversations about inclusion and equity,” said Schoville. “Our whole community is aware of the need to improve efforts on campus and encourage participation in ecology from diverse backgrounds.”
To aid in these efforts, the center is taking steps to join the Ecological Society of America’s (ESA) Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) program, which works to improve the participation of underrepresented students.
Additionally, Schoville said the center will continue to host signature events previously held by Wisconsin Ecology as well as new events.
“We’re at an interesting time as a lot of our showcase events this year have been cancelled due to COVID-19 which has impacted our sense of community,” Schoville said. “So, this year has had some big upsides with the center status, but downsides from the event aspect.”
To grow the sense of community, Schoville and the team of students, staff, and faculty at the Wisconsin Center for Ecology and the Environment will plan to move forward with a virtual version of the Wisconsin Ecology Spring Symposium. This annual event is generally planned by graduate students and offers students and postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to present their research alongside prestigious guest speakers. Other events will include virtual trivia nights and more opportunities such as an annual dinner once in-person activities are able to resume.
Additionally, Schoville looks forward to being able to reach out to new community members. For example, he would like to partner with researchers and research stations around the state.
“I would like to see us interact more with the research stations,” Schoville said. “There are a range of properties where ecologists and other scientists do studies and being able to have activities that allow us to connect with their research and include them in our events would be a nice way to integrate those research station missions with our campus mission.”
Schoville noted that this center offers many unique opportunities for collaboration and that it is the only one of its kind that he is aware of among peer institutions. He shared that he is excited to see the center move forward over the next few years, but he remains immensely grateful to the faculty, staff, and students and members of the executive board who have helped to lead Wisconsin Ecology to this point.
Schoville said, “It’s their hard work over the years that led us to becoming this center.”